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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: john vlna on September 05, 2016, 11:40:48 AM
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On RC Universe someone posted the question about converting a Guillows 500 series kit to CL. The general consensus of the responses was use one of the larger kits. These are only 16” span models. While I concur with this advice I had a 500 series Grumman TBF kit in the attic, and I know many of these small plans have been converted to RC. So I thought I would try my hand on converting one to CL.
Originally the kit suggested a COX .010, long since out of production. Actually if you had a COX .010 it would be easier to use it than electric. This is an older kit, not laser cut. I have made a couple of mistakes. I think it would have been better to put the gear in the fuselage, not scale, but it would be stronger I believe. Also it has been a while since building a model like this (stick & tissue) and some other construction mistakes have been made.
The plan goes like this; build the fuselage, see if I can stuff in the electric components, if all this looks good finish the plane. The motor will be a Turnigy 2211-2300KV, 12A ESC, 300mah 2 cell battery, and 2.4GHz motor control. The motor is more than adequate for the task. I fly one on a profile scale Vultee XP-54 which weighs 9.4oz ready to fly. The TBD will be lighter.
Anyway, that is a lot of stuff to jam in the fuselage, but it looks like it will fit. I have seen several of these kits converted to RC which I think would be more difficult. The fuselage is almost done, so we’ll know soon.
More to come (Hopefully.
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No pictures! H^^
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Well Doc not a lot of progress yet, but here is the fuselage and the components I have to stuff in it. Sorry it is a bit out of focus, something seems to be wrong with the camera. The weight of everything you see is 2.9oz
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John, got one of these? :D
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I don't mean to be a buzzkill here, but that's a LOT more weight for the fragile Guillows structure than the .010 or .020 setup would be. If you plan on actually flying the Avenger you may want to rethink things. For one, the model will likely be a tough one to "finesse" during landing and the extra (electric) weight will increase the chance of damage quite a bit. They're not cheap but there are a couple .020 options available as new from Cox International. Otherwise, decent ones can be found from time to time on Ebay. Anyway, it's a neat little model, please keep us posted. ;D
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Yeah that's heavy. I am looking for a lighter battery, that is where most of the weight is. The structure is stronger than you may think, but we will see. By the way I have both .01 and .02's, but I am not interested in a glow model.
PS Yes TY you are correct, I meant to say TBM
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Hey Ty
I don't know of any TBD kits either, but there are lots of plans about. Several here http://www.outerzone.co.uk/search/results.asp?keyword=tbd Mostly FF, but one RC which I always thought would make a nice CL Conversion, reduced maybe even a Carrier plane.
PS I picked almost the worst candidate to try what I am trying. The almost mid-wing makes stuffing the tiny fuselage that much harder.
By the way Dave, I tried the shoehorn, to big.
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Haven't been able to do much on the TBF because of other commitments, but here is some progress. I realized that I had to build the wing before everything was stuffed in. Also the tail pieces will be solid sheet, not built up. I spent quite a bit time working on lighter components and I think I will be able to stay at abut 2oz for the motor etc and the plane should be under 2oz.